How I Met Tom Hiddleston
by levines
Summary: "I'm not sure what we're about to do is entirely respectable," Tom whispered into my ear, his low-registered voice sending chills down my spine. "Good thing I don't give a damn about being respectable." I mumbled back, shoving him onto the bed as he grinned up at me. / Tom Hiddleston and Original Character.
1. London

**A/N: I apologize ahead of time for all the house-keeping in this Chapter! Gotta set up the backstory before I can dive into my devious plans... Hopefully you all enjoy it! **

* * *

Tom Hiddleston was becoming a hot commodity. Gone were the days where the locals knew him only as the small-time actor in several Shakespearean plays, or in random movies most had never heard of (such as Unrelated or Conspiracy). Nope. Now, he was most commonly known as Loki from Thor or The Avengers. He was listed as number 2 in the World's 50 sexiest men. Number freakin' 2! But, more about that later.

Today, our story begins in a cool afternoon in London, England about 5 years ago…

* * *

I suppose I should start out with some sort of introduction. Who I am, where I'm from, etc. Well first things first, my name is Elaynah (pronounced ee-lay-na), and I'm born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and am 28 years old. Everything in my life was simple. I had a boyfriend I could see myself settling down with, whom I had been with for almost 6 years. I was living on my own and working, and I knew what direction I wanted to take my life- or so I thought. I said earlier this story begins in London, but let me backtrack a bit.

When I was studying my undergraduate degree (about 9 years ago), I fell in love with Psychology, but I also enjoyed English and History. I hated all the papers that accustomed both of those subjects, so I took the lesser of evils and double-majored in English and Psychology and minored in History (specifically modern European History). I had no idea what I wanted to do after school finished, but I knew I wanted to pursue a higher education. A PhD always sounded so lovely…

And so, quite remarkably, that did happen. I was accepted into Regent's University in London to receive my PhD in psychotherapy and counseling studies. It was different, yes, than I had anticipated- however I had always had a soft spot for helping people and learning about them. I think that was part of the reason why I gravitated so heavily towards history- I wanted to learn more about the past to be able to better understand the future. And why London, you may ask? Didn't I have a boyfriend back home? Well, I had family in London and Regent's had actually sought me out to come to their school and I would have felt like a fool if I said no. And as for the boyfriend? Well, we'll get to that later (although, as you can imagine, moving an entire 8 hour time-zone difference away did not make for an easy relationship) but I digress.

So fast-forward some 4-5 years and I was returning to London to receive my actual diploma and walk with my fellow students (London does this wonky thing where you complete your program, but your graduation isn't usually until 6 months after- I know, it doesn't make sense to me either). The program at Regent's usually took students anywhere from 1-7 years to complete and I had completed it in a ripe 3 and a half years. I had worked my tail off, studied hard, and hardly ever took time to myself. Not to say that I didn't enjoy myself, I just enjoyed my studies more. ….

Did I really just say that?

Anyway. Since I was only going to be in London for such a short while, I stayed at my cousin's house and met up with colleagues of mine while she was ever away at work. I usually made a habit to meet up with one of my dear friends, Colin, almost every day. He seemed very excited to see me, and very excited to support me on my big day (my graduation). In fact, he had insisted that we meet at the local pub afterward to celebrate with drinks and celebratory speeches. I wasn't one for drinking for fun (hey don't judge, I hardly had time whilst being so busy with school), but I also wasn't someone who turned down her friends.

"To Elaynah!" The rest of the pub cheered, as Colin clunked glasses with me and sloppily took a drink of his beer. I laughed and took a sip of my own- I was all for having a good time but dreaded a morning hangover.

"So what's next on the big 'to-do list' for _Doctor_ Elaynah Montgomery?" Colin asked, his British accent slurring by the minute. I shrugged slightly.

"I'm honestly not sure! I suppose start writing books or helping people or something." It felt so surreal to hear Colin call me '_Doctor_' before my name, it was something I had dreamed about since I was a kid but never really thought it would come true.

"Oh bullocks!" I heard one of our friends, Andrew; yell from the right of me, "Elaynah always has a plan!"

"Not this time, Drew!" I called out to him while laughing, "I'm just going to see where the tide takes me."

"Hopefully the tide keeps you close to home." Colin commented, and I found myself shrugging once again.

"If by 'home' you mean Washington, then yes, maybe."

Colin shook his head in disagreement, "No, I meant here, in London."

I laughed, "Colin I'm not going to stay here! I don't have anything for me here. And besides, my life is back home…"

"You mean Jeremy is back home." He retorted quickly. I sighed, remember when I said we would talk about my boyfriend later? I guess it's later.

* * *

Jeremy was the guy that everyone wanted you to be with. Your family loves him, your friends think he's quiet, but genuine, and you've been together so long that people continuously keep asking 'when are you guys going to get married already?' Jeremy was soft, kind, and had a shy quality about him. He did anything and everything for me, and he loved me so much he could never do anything else in the world besides love me. He put his life on hold for me, always. He waited while I went to school in London and swore we would make it through. While he would try to visit every few months, it was almost impossible to maintain a connection with him when we were so far away and battling time zones. He worked full-time as an Engineer in Palo Alto, California, and I was spending my time split between London and home (in Northern Washington) looking for a job. It was hardly the romance anyone would write novels about. But the thing with Jeremy is that he was safe. He was comfortable. I could be myself around him; he was my best friend and confidant. Yet with everything else, it was just…fine. We clicked emotionally but physically…it was good. I won't sell him short. Most of the time I had really great orgasms that made me see stars and stuff. But the thing is, I felt like I was doing it just because I had to. Or for the routine of it. There was no spontaneity. I didn't feel like I wanted to jump his bones when I saw him or that I couldn't live without him. Don't get me wrong; the sex was definitely good here and there. But like I said- it was out of habit. It was convenient to be with him, because nothing better had come our way…

I feel awful saying that but I know that it's the truth. We were great for each other when we were younger. He had helped me through a lot of my personal problems with my family while I was in my mid-20's, and I had supported him throughout the beginning of his career and undergraduate life. I felt, though, that we were outgrowing each other. That we were only meant to be together for those few important years but the real thing was yet to come.

As of right now, Jeremy acts like we're together. He still sends me lovey texts about how he misses me, and we've Skyped here and there, but I think a part of him knows that when I come home for good, it'll fizzle out. He's invited me to move in with him, to hopefully progress the relationship and get engaged like we originally planned. And while a part of me does want that, another part of me is also telling me that this isn't it. That there's more out there for me. I loved him- I always had, and I always would. But I knew that my love for him was growing from romantic love to the love you have for a best friend.

So that's the story of Jeremy. Things are at a stand still, and I almost dread going down to California to see him. And so when Colin brought him back up again, I felt a mixture of annoyance, sadness, and everything else in between.

"Knock it off, Colin, you know that's not true." I replied, taking a deep swig of my beer. To hell with not having a hangover the next morning.


	2. Starbucks

To say I had a hangover was most definitely an understatement. I felt like I had been ran over by a double-decker, brought back to life, dragged face-first through a parade, had a herd of elephants stomp all over me, and then maybe even a little troll jump on my head all night long. I hadn't felt like this since my freshman year of college at Kappa Sigma's masquerade party. That was the night I swore to myself I would never drink again.

Obviously that didn't happen.

"I feel like you should be getting up soon or something," My cousin, Sara, commented loudly as she passed my bedroom. I groaned in disagreement.

"It's far too early to be getting up. Or doing anything really." I mumbled, my face pressed down against the pillow. I heard Sara laugh in the distance,

"It's almost 2 pm! Surely it's not _too_ early."

If I hadn't had such a bad migraine I would have snapped my head up at her. Since I did, though, it remained firmly in its' resting place against the pillow, "2pm?! In the _evening_?! Ughhhhhhhh how?" It was a rhetorical question but one to which my snarky Sara had an answer to.

"Well, when you go out all night drinking…" She didn't finish the thought but I was sure she was smirking at me. If my eyes would open, they would have been glaring daggers at her. "Anyway! Any plans for the day? I'm thinking of going to the mall maybe, but I figured I should ask you first to see if you wanted to come or needed anything."

"There are a few things wrong with that sentence." I began, "One, I hate the mall. You know this. Two, even if I enjoyed the mall long enough to be within its' proximity, I have no money to spend. I blew it all on grad school and now I'm unemployed. My life is a joke."

Sara laughed, to which I felt even more annoyed with her, "Oh, that's just the hangover talking. Your life isn't a joke! You've got your PhD! Anyway, I'm gonna head out then- be safe!" And just as quickly as she came (annoyingly enough), she walked out the door, and I proceeded to swear over everything I loved, respected, and admired that I would never drink again. Ever.

* * *

Colin felt so bad about our little riff that when I had finally come alive from the grave (around 5pm), he had offered to take me out to coffee as a hangover cure. While I had absolutely zero motivation to get out and do anything, at all, ever, my flight home was booked for the following week and I knew I didn't have much time left in London. I may as well make the best of it to the best of my ability.

Luckily it was a sunny day, so I was able to hide my face behind my favorite pair of _Ray Bans_, and dressed casually in leggings, flip-flops, a pastel colored v-neck, and a cardigan. That was the beautiful thing about London- no matter the month in summer; it was almost always a cool spring day. The temperature hardly ever went above 80 and it felt so good compared to the west-coast humidity. I found myself smiling (despite my ever-persistent migraine) while walking to the Starbucks that Colin wanted to meet at.

So desperate I was for coffee, that I placed in my order at the front before he even got there. When I looked up from my iced drink, I saw Colin grinning at me and sauntered over to him.

"How're you doing there, mate?" Colin asked, as I shrugged before leaning in for a quick hug.

"I feel awful and you're to blame." I retorted, taking a sip of my iced coffee and cringing a little bit at the word 'mate'. It was obvious that Colin felt guilty about our small argument the other night, and his use of the word 'mate' was to assure me that we were just friends, and he felt nothing else for me. Right. But Colin just let out a hearty laugh and continued acting like nothing was wrong, and I guess we were forced to move on from the previous night without even acknowledging it. Colin wasn't one to talk too much about his feelings.

I almost wouldn't have noticed _him_ if Colin hadn't introduced me. We had been spit firing back and forth about the very recent _How I Met Your Mother_ finale that had aired before my arrival in London. He, of course, thought it was brilliant, and I, on the other hand, could write paragraphs about what was wrong and how many things I hated and how the entire show was a disappointment to mankind and the fans that had waited 10 years to meet the Mother. I digress.

You know when you see someone, and you recognize them, but you're not sure how you know them or where you know them from? This was that moment. Colin introduced me to his friend, Tom, and I could have sworn I knew him before. Or that I knew him from something. At first Tom didn't say much. After we exchanged pleasantries he mostly listened to Colin and I babble and argue back and forth with a bemused look on his face. It wasn't until he finally made a comment that I almost spit out my coffee.

"Geez, I would hate to have any of my films reviewed by you." He was grinning, and I feel like my heart _literally_ stopped.

Tom.

Films.

_Films_…

Tom? Tom….?

My face paled at the realization. Here I was jabbering on and on about a TV show that really had no impact on my life (or did it though? Ugh life can be hard sometimes), I had hardly paid attention to attention to him even though I knew him from somewhere, and the answer had been glaring back at me the entire time. How had I not noticed?

"Tom Hiddleston?" I asked point-blank.

"Nothing gets past you, eh?" He replied with a chuckle; my brows furrowed.

"Tom Hiddleston as in Loki? As in Captain Nicholls? And Coriolanus?"

"You're missing a couple here and there, but, yes, in the interest of time, I would be that Tom." I stared at him, and had to refrain from dropping my jaw. How did Colin even _know_ Tom Hiddleston and why is it that he hadn't told me about him sooner?! Not that I was one to fawn over actors or anything like that (I was approaching my thirty's did I really have a choice), but it would have been nice to know!

"How do you two even know each other?" I asked skeptically, looking from Colin to Tom. They both began laughing, and Tom's sounded very mischievous. Like an "Ehehehe" type of laugh. I wanted to throw up it was so stupidly adorable.

"It's a funny story, actually-" Tom began, but Colin quickly cut him off.

"Yes but probably one that doesn't need sharing," Colin gave him a quick look, and then continued, "But the short story is that we both went to acting school together way back in the day."

"You act?" I asked Colin, baffled. I had never known that about Colin, but I guess, how would I? In the short 3 years we had been friends, we never talked much about our personal lives, it was usually all business and no pleasure. Well maybe _some_ pleasure, but that's a story for a different time.

Colin swirled his coffee around and shrugged, "I debated it for a little while, but it wasn't anything I was that great at."

"Don't sell yourself short, man!" Tom chimed in, and I found my eyes snapping over to his face at the sound of his voice. It was such a unique voice I felt drawn to it every time he spoke, "Colin was good, he definitely had potential."

"Why'd you stop?" I asked, looking back over to Colin.

"After the first year I just didn't think I had it in me. I felt exhausted already and I wasn't sure I could handle the lifestyle of moving around all the time and never being one hundred percent sure if I would have a job or steady income. I love being here in London, I didn't really want to leave."

Tom rolled his eyes, "Colin is being quite dramatic; he could have stayed in London and worked for the theatre. You wouldn't have had to leave unless you chose to."

"But Hollywood is in Los Angeles and you know most of the good work is there."

Tom shrugged, "True, but that doesn't mean you have to stay there all the time. I'm home quite a bit now and I've been pretty successful."

I snickered, "_Pretty_ successful? I'm pretty sure _The Avengers,_ _Thor_, and _Thor 2_ made more money in the months they were playing than my entire family lineage has ever made combined."

Tom laughed sweetly, "The success of a movie isn't just from the amount of money it makes, darling."

_ Darling_. The pet name made me want to curl up into a ball and die. In a good way, though. I think.

"_Anyway_," Colin pressed on, clearly annoyed that the attention had been drawn away from him,- maybe he actually would have made a good actor…"It wasn't like I had a very strong possibility of being successful, anyway. Figured I'd make your life a little bit easier by dropping out of the race early." He grinned at Tom as Tom began to laugh, and I seriously felt like I had entered some sort of twilight zone.

Here I was, having coffee with one of my best friends whom I had known for three years. All of a sudden he tells me he had really aspired to become an actor just a few short years ago. On top of all of that, I was sitting at my usual Starbucks table, talking to Tom Hiddleston about anything and everything. Pinch me.

Pinch me again because I still don't believe it.

We had all stayed at Starbucks chatting for so long that around 7, Colin got up to order another drink. I sheepishly asked for another, and Colin happily obliged, which left Tom and I alone. My heart was beating so fast I felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

"So tell me about you. All I know is that your name is Elaynah." The way he said my name made me want to jump off the nearest cliff. He enunciated every part of my name in a way that I had never heard before. It rolled off his tongue beautifully, and it was as though he was treating it with respect. Like that could even be a thing.

I shrugged a little bit, "What is there to say? I just graduated with my PhD in counseling…my life is somewhat of a joke, I don't know what to do next."

"I find that hard to believe; you just completed years of some very grueling coursework. Surely you have somewhat of an idea of what you want to do with it, or you wouldn't have come all the way to London to do it."

I almost hate that he seemed to know so much about me in only a few hours that I barely even realized myself. Another part of me, though, felt like I was on cloud 9. Tom had an incredible way of making you feel smart and confident, while subtly complimenting you in a way that made your existence seem worthwhile.

"I mean, I guess ideally I want to work with children. I absolutely adore them and love how their brains work. I wish that I could still be a child; still feel things for the first time and wake up genuinely excited about life. I feel like I'm lacking passion in mine right now, and that's why I'm not sure what to do."

Tom looked at me for a moment, as if trying to read my soul. Like all my life's complications and answers were hiding deep beneath my pupils, and he was the only one who could read them. I felt my breath hitch involuntarily; does he have this effect on everyone?

"What do you think you should do?" He finally asked after felt like an eternity.

I sighed and glanced away, "I feel like I should stay here. I feel like I should go. I feel like I should start over. Honestly I just don't really know."

Tom let out a small chuckle, "You're a poet and didn't even know it!"

I grinned and rolled my eyes, "I didn't mean to."

"Yes, well, hence the saying 'you didn't even know it'."

"Do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"

Tom feigned shock, "I don't claim to know everything, darling, I just act like I do."

"That's what your biography should say on Wikipedia- Tom Hiddleston: a loser who acts like he knows everything."

"_Loser_?! Where are these hurtful words sprouting from?"

Colin interrupted with our drinks before I could get in another word. Tom grinned at me over the tops of the coffee lids and I glared back at him.

This was going to be a very interesting "friendship".


End file.
